# South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team

The South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team (Bantwana), is a youth football (soccer) team, which represents South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. The team's main objective is to qualify and play at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and develop players for the main national team Banyana Banyana.
Bantwana hold the African record for most goals in an international match. They scored 28 goals (won 28-0) against Seychelles in the opening match of group B at the 2019 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship.

## History
### FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

The team qualified for 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago.
In 2018, they qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay making their second appearance at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

### COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship

The competed in the inaugural tournament in 2019 held in Mauritius. They were runners-up to Uganda in a 2-1 defeat in the final. They set the African goal scoring record (28 goals) in that championship.
They won their maiden COSAFA title at the 2022 edition, defeating Zambia by 4 goals to 3 in the final.

## Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

### Legend

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixture

### 2024
## Current squad

The following 20 players were selected for the 2024 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship held in South Africa between 4 December – 13 December 2024:
| No. | Pos. | Player | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Sphumelele Zibula | Dlala Ntombazana |
| 2 | 1GK | Dakalo Mafumo | Panorama F.C. |
| 3 | 1GK | Rose Ann Gerber | Brave Generations Academy |
| 4 | 2DF | Katlego Mohale | JVW Sapphires |
| 5 | 2DF | Akhona Smamene | Lindelani Ladies |
| 5 | 2DF | Dineo Makoala | Future Stars F.C. |
| 5 | 2DF | Andiswa Zuma | Dlala Ntombazana |
| 6 | 2DF | Sthabile Kamwande | Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Academy |
| 7 | 2DF | Bonolo Mokomo | JVW Sapphires |
| 8 | 3MF | Nomfundo Nzuza | Dlala Ntombazana |
| 9 | 3MF | Rethabile Molefe | Springs Home Sweepers |
| 10 | 3MF | Katleho Malebane | UP-Tuks Ladies |
| 11 | 3MF | Ambani Raphadana | Sinthumule Kutama |
| 12 | 3MF | Asanda Ziqubu | Dlala Ntombazana |
| 13 | 3MF | Nishaat Levy | Salt River Blackpool |
| 14 | 4FW | Leonay Kock | Royal Wizards |
| 15 | 4FW | Khwezi Khoza | Durban Ladies |
| 16 | 4FW | Nobahle Mdelwa | Lindelani Ladies |
| 18 | 2DF | Alwande Mbatha | Dlala Ntombazana |
| 19 | 4FW | Okuhle Sithole | Durban Ladies |

### Top goal scorers

Active players in bold, statistics correct as of November 2024.
| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1 | Oyisa Marhasi | 11 |
| 2 | Jessica Wade | 10 |
| 3 | Khwezi Khoza | 5 |
| 4 | Miche Minnies | 4 |
| 4 | Karabo Dhlamini | 4 |

### Managerial history

All-time Bantwana coaching records :
| Coach | Nat. | Tenure |
| Simphiwe Dludlu | South Africa | 2017 – 2021 |
| Nthabeleng Modiko | South Africa | 2022 – 2024 |
| Ntombifuthi Khumalo | South Africa | 2024 – present |

## Competitive record
### FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup record

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup :
| Appearances: 2 |||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 2008 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2010 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 2012 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2014 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2016 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2018 | Group stage | 12th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 2022 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2024 | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2025 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Total | Group stage | 2/9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 27 |

### African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women record

African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women :
| Appearances: 6 |||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 2008 | First round | – | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2010 | Play-off round | – | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 9 |
| 2012 | Second round | – | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| 2013 | Second round | – | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2016 | Second round | – | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 2018 | Second round | – | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 |
| 2020 | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2022 | Third round | – | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2024 | Second round | – | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2025 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| Total | Second round | 6/6 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 54 | 41 |
* ^1 South Africa qualified from the preliminary round by withdrawal of Botswana.
* ^2 South Africa qualified from the first round by withdrawal of Zambia.

### COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship

COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship record :
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GD |
| 2019 | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 5 | +34 |
| 2020 | Third Place | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 8 | +10 |
| 2022 | Champions | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 4 | +19 |
| 2024 | Group Stage | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 |
| Total | | 16 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 89 | 20 |